Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2021.
I am not going to rehash 2020. It had some good points where we got to spend time with our daughter and Cleo. But it had bad points, too. Who knew we were going to lose Cleo so young. We lost some family, friends (not to the pandemic) and other fur babies. I am glad 2020 is over.
Here is how Cleo would have celebrated the new year.
ANNNNDDDD we’re in the homestretch!
Day 21 is ‘present’ and fortunately for me I had a bunch of this little guys all cut out and ready to go for another project so I popped them on the scanner and “VOILA”, Day 21 is done!
A little over a week ago I posted the pug sketch. Here is another sketch done with watercolor. I am basically auditioning various media to see which one works the best. I have an acrylic one started, on my desk. So far the watercolor version is winning but we’ll see tomorrow if I feel the same way about it.
I zonked out early yesterday and I forgot to post. I was working on some sketches yesterday that I don’t want to share yet, but I thought of a new themed sketchbook that I will probably start after I finish my Christmas cards.
Another task that I tackled yesterday, in my bullet journal, was my Thanksgiving shopping list. I have tried regular planners for years, but I have had the most success with bullet journaling. The nice thing about a non formatted planner like bullet journaling is that I can track things like Thanksgiving shopping lists from previous years. It takes the guess work out of holiday planning and has been a valuable tool for me. It also reminds me of what worked and what didn’t.
You can find out more about Bullet Journaling here:
Today I finished up my week long daily doodles and I also tried out a new sketchbook to see what media it will handle.
The daily doodles are in a Strathmore 400 series softcover Drawing sketchbook. I love this whole line of journal type sketchbooks. The paper is awesome and you can get different weights for various media, they open flat and I like the 7.75 x 9.75 size. It’s perfect for my dailies.
This was done in a new sketchbook that I haven’t tried yet, but I have two of them. This is the first page and I tried watercolor and ink. It’s a square format and I love square sketchbooks but I am not sure how I feel about this one yet. More to come on this sketchbook….
Since I committed to doing a post a day for ART EVERY DAY MONTH, I am posting this, although much of today was doing research and sketches for a map I am working on and there is nothing sexy about a page full of lists. I won’t bore you with that. Plus, you’ll see the results soon enough. I did learn some exciting things about my subject, though.
Although I did do my morning routine and those sketches, I decided not to post those.
Instead, I am posting the color sketches of “Madison,” who owns my friend JoEllen.
For Madison’s portrait, I did several different sketches, which is why I make sure I do a pencil sketch first (like the one you saw of Rebel yesterday) and then make photocopies on cardstock so I can do these color sketches like you see here. The larger sketch was a Tombow marker warmup for me to play with the shapes and colors and get a feel for what paint I might want to use and getting to “know” Madison. I wasn’t quite going for accuracy, I was testing color relationships, carving shadows and just having fun. You can see where I put color swatches on the side. Then I did the small color sketches. One is ink and watercolor and the other is acrylic. The final that you saw the other day was a blend of mediums. You can see how each medium feels different. There is a lot of work that goes into doing a portrait like this. I might try a whimsical Madison sometime in the near future.
Thanks to JoEllen and Madison for the lovely portrait opportunity,
For the past few days I have been working on holiday stuff. I forgot to post yesterday but creating can be intense work. I was thinking on making some cards this year instead of printing them even though I have had my design done since the beginning of the year. We’ll see. I may cut back on how many I mail out. However, I have been making all these “parts.” I may even sell some.
Also, if you are looking for a personalized gift this year, I still have time in my schedule to do commissions. Pets, homes, businesses. That favorite vacation spot. Or something different to fill that empty space that you can’t quite find what to put there. Contact me for pricing.
I am working on another project and this is my sketch. I have already scanned it and I will load it into Procreate. I will then turn this sketch into something digital…
Stay tuned….
The dragonet wandered off without us realizing that he wasn’t here. And having wings complicates things, he can wander pretty far. Little did we know that he was in Cape Canaveral for the latest rocket launch and he thought it would be fun to race the rocket. He caused quite a stir because humans aren’t supposed to know he exists. NASA sic’d their jets on him before they realized he was just a juvenile dragon. We sorted things out with NASA, but they were not amused.
Footnote: if you haven’t been to a rocket launch, watching from Cocoa Beach, the rockets look like flying cigarettes.
The dragonet is still pissed that he had to wear armor yesterday. He flew off to parts unknown so he wouldn’t have to pose for anything today. The prompt is “outpost” anyway. I had to wing it without him.
